Stolen Away
by Raven e Reminiscence
Summary: On a raid Prince Vegeta comes across a woman held prinsoner in a machine of her own making. The story unfolds as Vegeta takes her home to Vegetasi, and becomes something more to her than just a savior. BV


Stolen Away

Written by Endless Reverie aka Raven é Reminiscence

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z and its characters belong to its rightful owners. This story is purely for enjoyment and creates no profit

Part One: Contemplation

The raiding vessel swiftly docked and before the docking bay doors opened, everything appeared to be normal. Suddenly, the door opened and the assistant and guard who were waiting at the doors were immediately slaughtered. The invading force was Saiyan and they their commander was the son of their king.

"Split up into groups of two" the prince commanded as the soldiers lined up into the hallway. "Make copies of everything, destroyed the originals and any who would oppose you. Inform me of everything coming toward us. When can this station expect back up from anyone of Freezer's allies or his own force?"

Bardock checked the computer, "We can expect a force to be here in about an hour".

"Alright. No screw ups—Bardock you're with me—everyone move out!" Prince Vegeta waited until everyone started to move out before walking down into the labyrinth of the station. The alarms turned off, Vegeta couldn't honestly remember when they turned on, and as the light continued to flash he addressed Bardock who was walking behind him. "Intel reported that the interior room was highly secured and that an incredible amount of power goes through the room. Do you have any idea why?"

Bardock waited until after Vegeta disposed of the pitiful guards who were charging them before replying, "I suspect that it is because this is one of Freezer's major computers—this is where his scientists create and discover all of his work."

They stepped onto the elevation platform and dropped down into the labyrinth at the end of the long hall they saw four more guards who died swiftly by Vegeta's hand. "Open the door Bardock we don't have much time." The metal hallway was silent for a moment before the door swished open and the two Saiyans entered the room, "What in the name of…." Vegeta glanced at Bardock before continuing his examination of the room. Most of the equipment didn't make sense to him, but slowly, as if an image was slowly being drawn in front of him, he came to realize that the faint beeping of the room was in time with his own heart beat. "What is this shit Bardock? If these are all machines why is there life support equipment here?" Vegeta scowled at the equipment before noticing a sphere filled with blue-green liquid. Frighteningly enough, it looked like the pods in the medical bay.

A comm. Message came over the communicators "Sire we've received confirmation that support troops for the station will be arriving shortly"

Vegeta tapped the communicator on his wrist "Tell the men to finish up then I'll be there shortly. Prepare for take off." He turned to Bardock "We don't have time to figure this out here and now…My father says that you have certain abilities—is there or is there not someone in the sphere"

Bardock's eyes widened—never before had Vegeta acknowledged his abilities. He stepped forward and placed a hand along side of the sphere. "Yes there's—Sire there's a woman inside."

Vegeta "You have five minutes Bardock to get her out. She's coming with us—there's a reason why she is connected to all of this crap." Vegeta worked on downloading the information from the computers and had just finished destroying the original when the sphere's door leaped open. The liquid and the woman's body slid onto the metallic floor in a mass of wires, plugs and limbs. Vegeta tore the cape from his uniform he tossed it to the science officer, "Pick her up"

Together the two Saiyans and the unknown female gradually made their way back to the ship. Vegeta motioned for Bardock to go to his private medical bay and then walked to the bridge. "report Drryn"

"Sire, reinforcements are now 15 minutes away. We are now only waiting for two men. The enemy's ship will be in firing range in 11 minutes. The vessel's captain 'strongly requests' that we power down our systems and surrender"

Vegeta smirked, "Where are the rest of my men?"

"They are on their way sir. 2 minutes"

"Tell them they have one minutes to get their sorry asses up here." The technicians adjusted instruments on their boards, and Vegeta laughed as Drryn warned they had 3 minutes until Freezer's force could fire. "Everyone reported in?" the Saiyan called Goku nodded. "Alright, engage systems, charge weapons, prepare to engage T-Drive" Drryn called out 90 seconds and Vegeta tapped wrist, "Bardock is everything secured?"

"Just now though you need to come down here as soon as possible."

Vegeta nodded, "Weapons fire at the station—destroy it at will." The bridge screen lit up as after several shots the station exploded. Vaguely he heard Drryn call out 40 seconds as he sat down in his chair "Engage T-Drive on my mark---now." The air seemed strained as the ship leaped forward leaving the reinforcements for the now destroyed station behind. "Drryn, you take the helm—set coordinates for 132.41.816."

Drryn nodded, a little surprised, "yes Sire."

Vegeta waited a moment to see things settled on the bridge as several officers celebrated for a moment their return to the home world. He made his way the corridors to his own compartments. Pressing the pad of his hand the scanner the door opened and Vegeta stepped to the room on the left—his personal medical bay.

"Report Bardock."

Bardock glanced up from his work for a minutes before spraying the small hose again—ridding the woman's body of the blue-green liquid. "She's saiyan-like…but her build is all wrong though. If I had to guess I would say that she's the same species as Goku's woman but even she has more build. Her body is drugged—she can't move, and these wires will have to be removed.

Vegeta eyes scanned the woman's body, "Her head has no hair though, she looks like she hasn't worked a day of her life."

"Her hair was probably shaved in an effort to keep containment of pathogens in the tank. See this?" Bardock reached over and turned the woman's head to the side. "This is very much like a computer port—whoever she is Freezer's had her hooked up to the station's computer—she essentially became a living computer—granted I'm using the term living loosely"

"What are the other wires for?"

"These wires here were for bodily functions, but as for the others they tapped into her nervous system, respiratory system, her muscles, and this one produced electricity..."

Vegeta scowled, "Electricity?"

"You went through a very similar treatment when you were Freezer's military."

The Prince's scowled deepened as he imagined the woman's body arching up in pain as they …Vegeta cut that thought off, "So every part of her was controlled…"

"No." Bardock shook his head, "This port could only carry information—they could not control her mind"

"Explain."

Bardock shifted, "I can hear her voice—if they had control over her mind, if her mind was the computer, she would have lost brain function when we removed her."

"You mentioned her body was drugged…"

"Yes, I'll have slowly reduced her exposure to the drug to wean her off of it. While I do so I'll remove all the wires from her body…except for her nutrient plug and the port—she'll starve without them and I don't know how the port works. She should have an actual doctor see to her."

Vegeta nodded, " Right now you're the best she's got—get on it. If you can, just limit your help to Goku. We'll be making landfall in a moon."

* * *

Frieza scowled at the insect before him who was reporting. He was seriously thinking about ending the war shortly—after all he had the power to do it—but this news was most disturbing. His revenge would have to be slow now to adequately regain the pleasure he would gain from the war. "Are you sure Experiment 109 was destroyed with the station?" 

"Reports confirm that 109's transmissions ended at the same the computer did—the experiment was kept under confidential there's no way that Veg—"

Freezer flicked a finger toward the useless creature—Silencing him for life. "What do you think Zarbon?"

Zarbon thought for a moment before just barely shaking his head, "I find it unlikely that anything about 109 was leaked out. It just chance that Vegeta picked that station. 109 probably died before Vegeta could even think beyond stealing and destroying.

"Yes, I think that I agree with you Zarbon, its not like Vegeta or any monkey for that matter has the ability to understand the concept of science." Frieza chucked a bit to himself before drinking from his glass, "Imagine what would have happened if Vegeta had taken 109 with him!"

Zarbon eyed his lord and tightly gripped his hand until his nails pierced his hand, _Yes…Just imagine what Bulma would do to exact her revenge…_

* * *

Vegeta finished his report before transmitting it through space. His report was brief—stating that the mission was a success before noting the date and approximate time of their return. It had been almost a full rotation since he had last been home but he preferred it that way. The city and home of the royal family made him nervous—his people looked to him for the legend and Vegeta had no idea how affirm their beliefs. They would be approaching the home planet during the three quarter moon, which he supposed would be just as well—his homecoming and the full moon would be a major disruption to the atmosphere of trust and work that had just been established the previous rotation. 

Vegeta stood up from his chair and began making his way toward his personal medical room. A lot had happened since the three weeks ago when they had first found the woman. Now, she had only the port behind her ear and the nutrient plug on her arm. Her body healed slowly at first with her body suffering from withdrawal and the struggle to heal the wounds littering her body. Her skin, though still pale was whole, and her hair though still too short in Vegeta's opinion cam down past her eyes. Bardock had mention that the healing tank had spurred up the hair growth but Vegeta somehow doubted it and suspected him of feeding the girl extra nutrients. No, wait, Vegeta thought. She's a woman not a girl Vegeta turned politely away as Bardock pulled the sheet down and listened to her lungs. "How is she?"

Bardock paused and internally sighed, "With your permission sire I would like to try something different."

Vegeta studied Bardock carefully, "What is it?"

"I believe that the woman is reluctant to return," the older Saiyan took her pulse and shook his head. "I can find no reason as to why she is not conscious."

"What are you saying?"

"Her mind was the last thing she had that she could control and use to save herself. She might have barricaded herself inside her mind—safe from those who would do her harm."

"I don't know Bardock. If she's that desperate…" Vegeta's eyes flickered for a moment before he turned away. "When my father first learned that I was alive, he allowed me the chance to die in peace, do you know why?"

Bardock stood silent, internally stunned with the prince's words. Several years ago a foolish and arrogant mistake Vegeta committed almost him his life and the life of his half sister. Bardock had never asked his son what happened the night when the three of them escaped alive but he had a feeling whatever Goku said or did was the reason Vegeta had changed so much. Gone was the arrogant and impulsive prince, replaced with a cool, if somewhat emotionally distant man.

"Being a prisoner changes you, and until you know…" Vegeta stopped now aware that he was talking out loud. "I don't know what your abilities are, but if you can, give her a choice to come back—don't force her."

Bardock nodded, "Of course. Would you like to…"

Vegeta sat down on the seat facing the window, "I'll wait here."

* * *

Wait, Bardock decided, was a good choice of words. He sat down beside the woman's bed and gently rested his left hand on top of her hand while his right hand gripped hers. It took him longer than usually to settle in and grasp his power—Vegeta's words seemed to echo in his mind. But slowly, as if fading into the mists of took, Bardock came to in entrance of the woman's mind. Eyeing the wall before him, he could see that it was well fortified, but not fortified enough to keep him out. 

A stay thought or two was continuously escaping as it is and as he slowly began taking down the wall, stone by stone, more thoughts began to leak out. Although he did have the aid of his superior strength and speed, the continue bombardment of the thoughts and emotions were straining. Then, as if he had just dropped into a cool pool of water, a thought came to him.

_Woman, my name is Bardock. I have not come here to hurt you. I am coming to you only to speak with you and help if you request it._ Bardock breathed in deeply as the bombardment slowed and carefully he jumped and down beyond the wall to the woman's thoughts. It made sense that she would see him as a threat when he took down her defenses.

Slowly, after what seemed to be hours, Bardock came to an open floor designed into a walkway that curved and narrowed around a single circle. And within that circle…

_WHAT DO YOU WANT?_

Bardock strained with the effort not to collapse onto his knees. _I've come here to speak with you._ He stepped forward but could not step onto the curve.

_USE THE PATH._

Bardock paused, "_What_?"

The voice was kinder, "_You must start at the beginning of the path and walk it to reach me."_

Suddenly, Bardock understood, this was the woman's way to test him. He made his way to the path, but his first step on it enveloped him. It was like walking through a gradual intensifying field of gravity. By the fourth level Bardock was sweating with effort and had plenty of time to think. The voice spoke Uzso-the universal language but with a curious accent—the voice itself was commanding but like wall—a shield.

Sweat poured from his skin, and the sudden change in temperature almost made him drop to his knees. Another circle he thought and trudged on. The pattern on the floor was completely lit up now although it shimmered from the frost that was starting to grow. One last turn he thought as he was hit with a cold winter blast and another intense increase in gravity. He took a deep breathe and plunged into the veil that sectioned off the circle from sight.

The first thing Bardock became aware of when he woke up to his surroundings was that he was not alone. A woman sat away from him against the wall. He was silent for a minute before sitting up and crossing his legs careful not to make any threatening gestures. "_My name is Bardock, and I've come here to help you_."

The image of a broken girl came to him then. It her lying in her own unconsciousness with Frieza's taunt body standing over her.

"_Frieza is not here, nor are you at the station. You are on the ship of my Prince."_

Another image replaced the first one and after a moment Bardock understood. He stood up and gestured to a group of stars on the far side. "_In under a moon we'll be here my home planet."_

A frightening image came then of chains, work, and pain. Bardock shuttered, "_You are free and no longer a slave if I have anything to say about it and lady, I am not the least of my people."_

The woman slowly stood up and approached him though still maintained the distanced between them when she stopped. _Bulma_

He tilted his head not understanding the word, _What?_

_My name…My name is Bulma._

He smiled, _I am pleased to meet you Bulma though I wish it was under better circumstances._

_Me tu…_ She paused and frowned._ Forgive me, its been a long time since I last talked to anyone and I have forgotten some things._

Bardock felt a pressure of protectiveness come over him and regretted everything that might have happened to this woman. _I understand, would you like to talk about it?_

Again she paused as if considering her options, _I would rather show it… _She frowned _Much of it is very personal and…_

_I completely understand _He sat down and waited until she copied his movements _Show me what you would…anything would be useful_

The first thing he gathered was a faint impression of her verbal language—the one she learned as a child. The portrait of her early childhood was cheerful but a sudden appearance of Frieza chilled him. Like so many other planets, Frieza had first appeared as a friend and ally—it wasn't until a celebration of the alliance that the monster struck. Faint images of death, capture, and slavery stung him. She was a normal slave for two years until Frieza took an interest in her. She built machinery Bardock realized and then shuttered as a young Bulma was slapped by the lizard and touched… That image broke off abruptly to show her several years later at the age of fourteen being tied into her own invention—a perverted machine changed from the creator's original intent. She was a slave in that contraption for almost 5 years… Bardock struggled to grasp with that knowledge. For five years they had control over her body—hurting her with the jolts of electricity to do as they wish—and the faint perverse mental attacks from Frieza. She knew when she was separated from the machine and when the drugs had finally left her system but she feared that it was another trick. The images and impressions faded to leave behind a grown-up girl.

_I am sorry for all that has happened…What you experience is somewhat similar to what others have by the monster's hands though I think not quite the same. _Bardock allowed the silence to stretch between them for several moments _I would like to offer you sanctuary with us. We are part of the resistance against Frieza—led by King Vegeta and his son also Vegeta._

_Vegeta…_ The way that she separated the syllables was unique. _You must be Saiyan then._

_You know of us?_

_Yes _Bulma faintly smiled _Frieza really hates Saiyans_

_Well, what do you think?_

_Give me some time? _Bulma looked around her as if taking in her surroundings for the first time. _An hour or so?_

_Of course Bulma… _He stood up, and turned to leave. His departure though paused for a brief instant _Please know Bulma that when you awaken I will be there and that, if you wish, you may call me family…_

Bardock briefly thought that he heard a sob after her whispered thank-you but was kind enough not to pry. When he reached his normal state of consciousness, he was aware of Vegeta staring at him. He cleared his throat before noticing a platter of food accompanied by a pitcher of water and glasses. "She asked for some time, but my prince she's a genius—Frieza was using her for everything."

"What else?"

"She was nine when the bastard took her planet and eleven years when he took her to his bed. She actually built the sphere we found her in. It was intended for something else, but Frieza warped it into a prison…" Bardock's voice lowered, "She was in the sphere for five years."

Vegeta's eyes widened for a second before studying the woman closely. She spent more time in Frieza's care than he did and for the first time he felt pity for the creature before him.

Bardock removed the external plug on her arm and bandaged it leaving the internal part in for extraction later. "Her name is Bulma, and I'm sorry to say that I forgot to ask but I'm almost positive that she's human—like Goku's woman."

Vegeta frowned, "I thought only a few survived."

"Well apparently she survived in invasion and occupation as well." Bardock considered his next words carefully, "Her status in Frieza's court was very similar to yours."

Vegeta's frown turned almost thoughtful but the harshness of the situation's reality poisoned the thought. "I'll have to speak with your son, stay here until she awakes."

Bardock nodded and turned back to the bed. He would have done so anyway.

* * *

The first thing Bulma realized when she began to awake, besides the harsh light, was the heavy weight of her body. She smiled for the sheer joy to move her own muscles and twitch her fingers. Her vision was washout but outlines and movements still registered. "Bar-dock?" Her tongue, clumsy in its lack of use, stuttered over the syllables. 

A faint pressure of her hand and slow careful movements helped her sit up. This carefulness was one of the reasons why she never doubted the man's words—he reminded her of her father, of Krillen, of Ya… she stopped. There was no reason to go into that now. "Li-ght?"

The light dimmed and Bulma could see a little better. Now sitting up she could better feel the heaviness of her body. Bardock, she recognized by his outline, sat beside her.

The man's voice while soft was music to her ears, "Would you like some water?"

She nodded and was thrilled with the whole process despite being unable to hold the glass. "This ship?" Her brow wrinkled in concentration, "Yours?"

Bardock shook his head, "This ship belongs to the First Prince of Vegetasi—Prince Vegeta. I expect that we will reach my home planet in six days."

"Then?"

"You are welcome to come and live with my family. Though I expect it would be best that you stayed out of sight—we have no idea if Frieza is looking for you."

"I have—" She stumbled over the pronunciations "things to ask. But tired."

Bardock looked at her and nodded, "That is reasonable, this will be one of the first chances your mind has to rest in the peace of safety."

"Safe."

"Yes. When you wake either my son or myself will be here." He soothed her hand to lay flat against the mattress and sat back. _Sleep peacefully my dear…_

* * *

After speaking with Goku, dinner, shower, and sleep, Vegeta decided that he felt much better. The door to the med room was cracked open but the lights remained off. His thoughts were troubled as of late. The discovery of the woman made him remember things that he longed to forget, but the safety of the woman—Bulma—he corrected, needed to be discussed. She couldn't live out in the open, and she was the greatest intel find since the beginning of the war, but Vegeta feared pushing her to work with them might set her on guard. His sensitive ears picked up a rustling of the blankets in the far room and a struggle to get up. Slowly, he walked to the door, and pushed it completely open, "Bulma?" 

She was tangled in the blankets in her attempt to sit up.

"What do you need?"

Bulma looked at him in a flash of blue, and it took him a second to grasp that needed help for the watercloset. He swiftly discarded the blankets and scooped her up with a light sheet (for her privacy) and helped her balanced herself on the toilet before exiting. He could hear the light sounds of her movement before a distinguishable emptying of the bowl was heard. He knocked politely on the door before entering, "How do you feel?"

"Okay. It's hard to get used to talking again, or move but I have no pain."

Vegeta noticed that she spoke all of this carefully and unwillingly smiled—only a bit. "That's good. Is there anything else you need?"

She sighed, "Are there any women onboard?"

"?"

"I saw that you had a tub and I…"

Vegeta understood, "There aren't any women aboard."

"Oh."

"But," He cursed himself but could see no other option, "I could… If—"

The ends of Bulma's thin lips twitched as she gave one sharp nod. She knew she trusted this man, for some odd reason, and her need to be clean over-ride any doubts she might have had. As he heated the water, Bulma stole glimpses of him underneath her eyelashes. He was barely taller than she was she guess, but his stern no nonsense posture made him tower above most. She allowed the sheet to fall as Vegeta helped her to stand and slowly walk the few feet away to the tub. She couldn't manage to get in but the feel of clean water against her skin was too pleasing to care about that or her lack of clothes in the sight of a man. –Not that the man was looking at her sexually though she reminded herself. With his sleeves pushed back, he gathered soap sand into a cloth, dipped it into water and gently began to wash her body. She relaxed under his touch feeling relieved in the long missed ritual of cleaning.

"You don't look like you would be Bardock's son."

Vegeta chuckled, "That's because he's not my father."

Bulma jerked and made an effort to covered herself, "Who—"

"My name is Vegeta. Goku is Bardock's son." He eyed her reaction before gently pushing her up to continue scrubbing. She was caught off guard he knew but this was the first time someone had not known his face. "Don't think about titles for now—their very misleading. Goku is a so-called first class but if not for his size I'm sure you would call him a child." Vegeta finished her back and after pouring more sand and water directly into his head started cleaning her short tresses of hair. "My sister, so called princess, is a barbarian and Goku's woman is louder than any man I ever met." Vegeta filled the cloth once again with the soap sand and gestured her to use it for the other parts of her body. While she did so he found a full robe and laid it out and then when she finished he helped her to wash the soap out, step out, and bundle her into the over sized robe. "And sometimes" Vegeta concluded "I'm also called arrogant but I like to think---" He looked down and saw that she was once again asleep. "I like to think that I'm learning."

Bulma was safely back into her bed when Bardock came in a few minutes later. He first checked on his patient before coming before his prince with a read out in hand. "Here's the latest updates…"

Vegeta scanned over them briefly, "Increase speed. We need to return home now."

Bardock nodded, "May I suggest an unannounced landing?"

"Anything Bardock—just get us to Vegetasi by tomorrow night."

* * *

Bulma was shocked to wake up hours later to the announcement that they would shortly be entering Vegetasi's atmosphere. Bardock was very brief in his explanation and quickly moved on to introduce her to his son Goku. She gave Goku a weak grin as his sheepish smile spread across his features. He's gentle, Bulma decided, as the younger Saiyan helped her cut up the fruit, bread, and cheese-like slices on her plate. She delighted in the taste of food but was careful not to eat too much lest she would sick. 

It was night when they landed, but to her frustration she was not allowed to leave the ship. "Sorry Bulma" Goku sheepishly grinned again, "Orders." So Bulma waited until at last Goku motioned for her to follow him. They did not however leave and instead Goku took manual control of the ship and began preparations for another flight.

"I thought we were…"

"We'll go to Vegeta's villa for now. Someone tried to kill the king so Vegeta doesn't think its safe enough for you to live in the palace yet." At her expression he laughed, "He's just being careful Bulma. Besides you'll like the villa a lot better. Chi is there too and I just know she'll like you." The ship rumbled as Goku's awkwardness with the controls made the flight up into the air and towards the villa almost unbearable.

It wasn't a long flight yet Bulma was pleased when it ended. The ship touched down grinding the stone landing port, to which Goku remarked Vegeta would make him fix later. She followed Goku to the opening door but hung back when Goku gave a shout a leaped towards a figure that was approaching. Unwilling to disturb Goku's moment alone with whoever it was, Bulma slowly walked a bit away from them and turned around to finally catch of view of the ship's exterior. The effort made her gasp for breathe and wince for the strained muscles, but the feel of natural wind restored her.

The planet was beautiful Bulma thought as she looked around her. The colors and vegetation was extreme in most cases but as she looked towards the mountain range she saw another clearing similar to that around the landing port. It felt good to be free.

"Bulma!"

Bulma turned to see Goku approaching his hand engulfing the hand of the woman at his side. She gasped and couldn't believe what she saw, "You're…"

The older woman smiled and drew Bulma towards her. "Humans are a lot stronger than anyone will ever give us credit for don't you think so Bulma."

Bulma grabbed the shawl that the woman wore and cried. She didn't know for how long she cried, but when she grew too tired to cry anymore Goku picked her up and the small group gradually made their way to the villa.


End file.
